# 31
31
“…Huh!”
Her consciousness, which had been in a coma the whole time, suddenly awakened as if she had been hit on the head with a hammer.
Angelica Ratlay took a sharp breath as she held her head, which began to buzz violently.
“Oh, my head hurts...”
She felt as if her stomach would turn over and empty everything in it at any moment, so she quickly gagged her mouth with her other hand, trying to stand on her swaying feet.
As soon as I calmed down, the dizziness slowly began to subside, but the reassurance did not last long. A fleeting scene pierced her memory.
“Angelica?”
"Hugo! It's Hugo!"
Inside a world that was spinning and shaking, she caught a glimpse of Hugo's rarely seen, terrified face, and in the next moment... she was hitting him with all her might!
"Ah! What...what is this? What is this memory?!"
Was it… a dream? Angelica muttered, pulling her hair with her hands, then involuntarily looked at the ground.
There was a stain on the black carpet, as if something had been spilled on it.
"wine?"
Rather, it is the wine I was carrying yesterday!
But...why did it spill on the carpet instead of on the table? She tried to recall what followed, but her memory was hazy, as if she was immersed in a fog.
Angelica wiped her body, checking her condition anxiously.
“My clothes are neat...and my back doesn’t hurt.”
There was a slight tingling sensation in her neck, but it was nothing serious.
"What's going on? Could it be that I was imagining something else?"
It was true that Hugo Bernstein was not the type to jump into “marriage duties” immediately, but she nonetheless felt a strange heat in her face.
“Oh, I don't understand... I should at least drink water...”
As soon as she thought of that, her stomach started churning again. Before she left the room, she heard a soft knock on the door.
“Come in.”
A group of four bridesmaids entered at once, as if they had been waiting for her to wake up for a long time.
Angelica took the cup of tea she was offered, still confused.
"What is this?"
“A drink that helps relieve the effects of hangover, ma’am!”
“Ah… okay.”
But she noticed something strange; The bridesmaids' faces were brighter than yesterday, and even looked unusually happy.
For some reason, these radiant looks were not the result of an ordinary wedding night.
‘What’s the matter? Why are they looking at me with such shining eyes?
She lowered her gaze to escape their curious gazes, and drank the tea in one go.
But one of them quickly offered another cup.
“But I just drank this...”
“Ah, this is not to get drunk, ma’am, but to soothe the throat. You have been crying all dawn, you must be tired.”
"What?! I cried?"
Angelica's eyes widened in astonishment, and the bridesmaids began to speak enthusiastically, as if they were telling a funny story.
“At dawn, madam, suddenly you came out into the corridor running and saying that you wanted to go home!”
“I did it...ah.”
When she heard that, her memory began to become clearer and clearer.
“Right… I think I did.”
That was when her drunkenness began to subside, and as usual whenever her condition improved a little, she wanted to read the novel “The Rose of the Empire.”
“I was running down the hallway then...”
“Angelica, be careful around here. The floor is wooden, you might get splinters in your foot—”
“Let me go! I have to go now! I have to go home, I have things I need to see right away!”
“Things…? Well, at least put your shoes on first.”
"I don't have time! I have to read now! My treasure... I want to see it!"
“Okay, come on then.”
Hugo himself knelt on the floor to put her shoes on, but she, in her drunkenness, kicked him away to the end of the corridor.
Then Hugo sighed, then carried her into his arms without hesitation.
She was very light, and as soon as she rose from the ground, she opened her wet eyes and looked at his face…
"Mmm? What is this? Who...is this face?"
“Hugo Bernstein.”
"Hugo?! The real Hugo Bernstein?"
"Yes."
“Ah, really...it's Hugo Bernstein...ha...haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.”
“Ah…”
She was trying to touch his face, but her strength failed her, so she ended up resting her head on his shoulder and crying bitterly.
Hugo tried to calm her down as best he could, but...
"Don't leave me! I want to see you, I have to see...
To
Hugo... Hugo Bernstein...
“I'm sorry you're crying, Angelica.”
“Don't say sorry... No... You should apologize... Your face, your face is so beautiful, haha...”
.
.
.
Fortunately, the word “beautiful” was swallowed by her tears and did not come out clearly, otherwise she would have completely embarrassed herself in front of him.
“If she had heard, he would have thought I was obsessed with his face!”
Angelica closed her eyes tightly. I wish she didn't remember any of this.
She quickly drank the second cup, then followed the bridesmaids to the bathroom, walking groggily.
As she walked, they couldn't stop chatting and laughing.
I looked at their faces with a faint smile. None of them showed any aversion or mockery.
“Good...they don't seem to see me as a scandal.”
On the contrary, they were whispering in amazement about how the Duke seemed confused for the first time in his life.
“Since you came, madam, the whole house has become brighter!”
"That's right! It's even warmer!"
One of them added that the Duke's Palace in the north was cold even in the middle of summer.
“Huh, exaggeration.”
Angelica waved her hand, trying to hide her smile, but the corner of her lips rose against her will.
“Really… at first it was cold, but when I woke up, I felt warm.”
And perhaps it was...thanks to the intensity of her feelings towards Hugo.
“Hehe…”
Even though she knew there was no good reason for this, her shoulders stood up with childish pride.
She nodded to the bridesmaids' conversation, pretending to give in to their compliments and enjoy the general atmosphere.
Therefore, the bathing service provided by the bridesmaids did not seem strange or embarrassing to her this time.
Spray… Spray…
Angelica came out of the bathroom, wiping her wet feet, then stood in front of the mirror.
The dress she wore was surprisingly comfortable, with lightness rather than formality in mind, with no tightness anywhere.
“That's what I like about empire dresses.”
Everything that was taken with her during her kidnapping was equipped with tight braces, which bring nothing but distress and suffering.
She looked at the waist belt that was tied with a simple string, then raised her head towards the mirror without thinking, and froze in place.
“Huh?!”
There was something strange...
Her eyes, which used to be transparent, now sparkled with a red glow!
Is this a headache or a hangover? I blinked twice, three times, but the color remained the same.
“Girls, what do my eyes look like?”
“Your eyes, ma’am? They are clearly red.”
“So it's not just an illusion, is it?”
“The same color as Hugo’s eyes...”
She didn't know if it was a coincidence or fate, but she felt an overwhelming happiness fill her chest.
“Did Hugo see me like this?”
It was not clear exactly when this change occurred, but she thought he did not notice, especially since he was still coherent even while she was drunk, screaming and crying.
“I want to show him quickly!”
Red eyes like this are rarely seen. Even Cyril Rose, his eyes were more pink than red.
Because that color was strange, people used to shun those who had it, but now Angelica is one of the few who stands by it.
“Where is Hugo now?”
She couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer, so she eagerly asked the bridesmaids. They pointed towards the window.
Since she finished getting ready, Angelica rushed to the window near the bed.
-Whoosh... Whoosh...
As soon as she approached, her hearing pierced the sound of the air being torn under the blows of the sword.
Despite the high floor, his movements were violent and sharp enough to be heard clearly.
“Wow...”
A faint gasp of admiration escaped her.
Hugo Bernstein was standing on the training field, his imposing appearance beckoning the eyes.
His graceful stance, his precise movement, and the hair that flies whenever the sword cuts the air... a living painting.
“Shoulder muscle...”
She muttered in a low voice, staring in amazement at his broad shoulders that stood out clearly under his light clothes.
She couldn't take her eyes off him, as if his body alone attracted all her attention.
Even though she drank two cups of tea, her throat suddenly became dry.
And the moment she stared at him, mesmerized as if enchanted...
Ho!
“…!”
Hugo suddenly raised his head, his eyes meeting directly with hers.
His gaze was steady, calm, but sharp as a sword.
Angelica froze, then shrank unconsciously and sat on the ground.
“My heart almost stopped!”
She had never expected that he would be able to sense her presence at this height, no matter what sword master he was.
“I was looking at him really suspiciously...”
She could have stared less...strangely.
But no, who is the real culprit? The one who has such a wonderful body!
She put all the blame on him for her secret, then raised her head lightly to see if he had forgotten her presence.
But when she looked again...
“…!”
“…!”
Their eyes met again.
There was a slight sparkle in his eyes, as if he was mocking or reading her thoughts.
She trembled again, but this time she couldn't look away.
“Did…did he smile?”
Yes, he did.
At the ever-stern corner of his mouth, a small, warm smile crept in—a face she had never seen before.
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